Heh… this is going to open a can of worms around here :) What kind of tools are you talking? Machines, hand tools, a bit of both…? What kind of furniture? For house building/reno work, I would stay with the major brand names in those markets… Dewalt, Makita, etc… For fine woodworking and furniture building, well, there’s varying schools of thought on what the “best” tools are. You won’t have too look far for an opinion in these forums. I am a hobby woodworker so I buy what I please, but for someone with a business I would think that reliability and quality would be desirable. I’d be looking to Veritas and Lie-Nielsen for hand tools. For machinery, there are many good options. I think Grizzly offers good value on many machines. My opinions only!

I like Grizzly for machines. I don’t think you can beat them for the price. I also like Makita and Bosch for hand power tools. I don’t have much Ryobi equipment except my BT3000 table saw and it is a great saw for the money.I avoid Jet tools. I have had a few and got rid of them as fast as I got them….............Jim

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!! Variety is the Spice of Life!!

If you are just starting out, the best tools are the ones you can afford to pay cash for rather than financing. Hard to make the payments when the jobs are slow (or slow paying).

Now, if you are doing all the work yourself, start saving pennies for tools that are up to the workload. Hobby tools are great but a poor way to run a business.

Now, I ordinarily go for import tools for personal use but that can be problematic if you are in a union state and taking tools onto a jobsite. Also, if you are doing it commercially and with other employees, OSHA has some input on the tools you choose as well. Also your insurance company can want to have their say.

Milwaukee has some fine portable power tools that stand up to daily use. Some of DeWalt’s stuff is suitable. When you look for stationary tools, you need to be more specific as to what kind of work you are planning. I would honestly say that a Delta Unisaw would be at the lowest end of tablesaws for commercial use in a production shop. Are you planning to have 3 phase power available? That will dictate a lot.

If you are doing cabinet work and starting without machinery, it might be a great time to think about bypassing old tech and going straight to CNC work. Panel saws are not a bad thing to have around.

Most framing and trim stuff for houses can be handled by a good router, compound miter saw, good circular saw, drill and maybe a jobsite tablesaw.

one thing is clear with this question the request is a bit to general. I am in business I own powermatic dewalt delta and dewalt I purchased a new Saw Stop a couple of weeks ago if your going to have others run your table saw a saw stop is a must get anything else your open to a law suit. I love my professional grade powermatic tools To give more accurate info i will need to know more about your shop.

Sticking with a single brand name is a sure way to ensure that you don’t pick the best tool within a given price range. It’s far more important to evaluate the merits of the individual tool and it’s suitability for the task.

Some brands cater exclusively to higher end markets, others dabble in both higher end and homeowner level tools. You’d certainly want to avoid most homeowner level tools for a business, but not necessarily all brands that make homeowner level tools if they also offer tools in multiple market niches.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Holz-her makes some good tough machines and thereare plenty available on the used market. Not as featurerich or refined as Felder, Martin or Altendorf, but goodand accurate machines.

Brandt, SCMI, old Oliver, Northfield. If you’re going tobuild frameless cabinetry you need some special machinesto make the process efficient and profitable.

In terms of building houses and remodeling work, it seems to be hard to tools. Tough and reliable brands that hold up to pro use seem to be Milwaukee,Dewalt, Makita and Bosch. You could add Hiltiand Metabo. Hitachi seems to be hit and misswith the smaller power tools from what I’ve observed.

I’ve had good luck with Hitachi nailers and found themreliable and ergonomic.

For portable gear Dewalt is good value in my experience – never had the cordless tools. Festool is good butuntrained employees may damage tools and with Festools that would be a bummer.